The Brookhaven leader., 1887-05-26
The Sword aud Shields Article.

y few papers of the State which
have all along been the servilc tools
of the whisky power and corrupt
political rings-and 10 the honor OF
Mississippi be it sail, there are only
few such-have attempted TO turn
heaven earth in order TO create the
impression that the article in the
Sword and Shield which prccipita-
ted the assassination Of Roderick
Gambrell, was prompted by malice
conceived during the local option
campaign in Kinds because llamil.
ton was a leader of the anti.Prohibi-
,ion forces in that contest. Moth
ing could be further from the truth
or record, and such statements are
a base fabrication intended solely tn
create sympathy for Hamilton
among honest Observation-Disclosures
who depise assassination and polit
ical corruption.
The article in question was sim.
ply an exposure Of Hamilt"n's
scheme to defraud the State out OF
$7S,S4O, as n lessee of the Peniien-
tiary. and the methods he had used
to accomplish it, and protest
which every honest citizen has n
right to make against honoring such
men with public trust. Nor was it the
first time the Sword and Shield had
called public..attention to the matter.
Early in 1886, when the Standing
Committee Of the Senate began TO
unearth the penitent,ary rottenness
carried on by Hamilton and his co,
ringsters, young Gambrell CON-
menccd his exposure and war
fare on the ring, and some of his
most scathing articles were then
written. At that time the Local
Option bill had not even become a
law, and it was morally impossible
for Gambrcll to have known that
the heated local option contest
in Kinds would follow, with Ham
ilton at the head of the whisky
forces. SO much tor the ignoble
attempts Of Iamilton's partisans
to impugn the dead young editor :
motives and lay at the door of Pro,
hib,,ion the animus of his ar
Licle.
AS to the article itself, though
made the occasion Of the brave
young editors cowardly assassina-
ton, it was prominently timely and
true. Here was man, as the
article declared, "who stands before
the world convicted by theGovernor's
official statement with having sign.
ed false statements concerning his
Indebtedness to the State" who is
audaciously proposed by some ad.
miring henchman in the columns of
the ex.State organ and his own
personal organ for reelection to the
State Senate where his first term
was largely devoted to advancing
his own echcmes-a man who in the
local option campaign of last summer
started and edited whisky sheet in
which the clergy were coarseIy de
denounced as dispensers of oleo-
margarine religion and the pure
christian women Of the State were
snecred at and ridiculed-and q
man who, since the trial in Jack
son began, is shown to have for his
daily bosom companions bar-room
bullies and tin-horn gamblers Of the
jackson slums.
Yes, in his capacity as a faith
full journalist and sentinel on the
watch-towcr, Gambrell was right in
writing just as he did. Granting,
which we do not, that Hamilton did
not really intend 10 become a candi-
date for re election to the Senate,
he very proposal of such thing,un-
der all the circumstances, deserved
the resentment and rebuke it re-
crived. And what is more, neither
Hamilton himself nor any OF his
loud-mouthed and servile partisans
ont of account mere asser-
lions and assassins' bullets--have so
much az tried to meet or disprove
The charges Gambrell made.
The trial of the men charged with